I have been in search of tender rattan shoots, known as ‘baet aga’ in Bengali and ‘betgaaj’ in Assamese, for a few years now. A rare vegetable that I last ate a few decades back, and have been unable to find since. The shoots are available for a short season, and only in the few…
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Continue ReadingWhen we met Sharmistha and Samrat over the idea of Anondomela, I didn’t think long before agreeing to be a part. I instinctively knew that it would be fun and fullfilling. While we were discussing, Sharmistha suggested that I do Odia food, which I was more than amenable to and my heart was set on…
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Continue ReadingChicken A La Kiev has one of the murkiest histories in food, and one that is highly political. It is disputed whether the dish was invented by a French or Russian chef. In 1700s, the Soviet aristocracy had a fascination with the French culture and food and would send their chefs to Paris to train.…
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Continue ReadingLebu pata bhapa paneer My Naboborsho this year was as (meh!)as the year in general. My yearly bout of summer fever decided to come a night before the Nabobarsho, completely draining me of every iota of energy. I spent the entire day on liquids, only to be able to eat tiny morsels of solid food…
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Continue ReadingHayastan or Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as it’s official religion in 301 AD. The Armenians played an important role in world history as merchants and power brokers. In India, the oldest reference to an Armenian dates back to the year 780 CE, when an Armenian merchant named Thomas…